Systems

Ann Kordes is the former Head Coach at the University of Louisville and is currently the Associate Director of the Kentucky/Indiana Volleyball Academy (KIVA). Improve your volleyball team’s offensive abilities with this detailed skills and drills. In over 50 minutes of volleyball instructional videos, watch how a range of collegiate and club coaches show you how ...

What are the individual defensive fundamentals needed to construct an effective Rotational Defense? In the video clip below Eastern Wyoming College Head Coach, Julie Sherbeyn takes you through the key coaching points that she uses to teach the individual skills she needs to build a successful team defense. In this presentation she discusses the following: Footwork Start in “split” Fast ...

Which blocking system is best for your team? Read, Front or Dedicate In the video clip below Coach Travis Fuller from The Academy Volleyball Club shares the pros and cons of each system and offers ways to attack each.  American Volleyball Coaches Association recently named him one of the nation’s top 30 coaches under 30 years ...

Here are two different blocking systems based on your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. In the clip below legendary high school coach David Bartley (6 state championships and a 15-year record of 350-58 at Cheyenne Mountain High School) discusses how and why he would employ both the Stack Right and Bunch Middle Blocking Systems). Coach Bartley states that ...

Here are some thoughts on who should take the second ball when the setter makes first contact. This post is provided by Coaching Volleyball By John Forman Coach Forman is currently the assistant volleyball coach at Midwestern State University. Before that he was the Head Coach of the professional women’s team at Svedala Volleybollklubb in Sweden A reader sent ...

This post was provided by Coaching Volleyball By John Forman Coach Forman is currently the assistant volleyball coach at Midwestern State University. Before that he was the Head Coach of the professional women’s team at Svedala Volleybollklubb in Sweden. In the post On player communication I talk about the challenge of players communicating with each other on the court. It in ...

How can you use data more effectively as a tool for improving your team? Here is one example of how a college team uses data. This post was provided by Coaching Volleyball By John Forman Coach Forman is the assistant volleyball coach at Midwestern State University. Before that he was the Head Coach of the professional women’s team at Svedala Volleybollklubb in ...

Different defenses can be more effective verses certain opponents. As coach, you most likely make adjustments to your defensive plan based on your opponents strengths. The question is, do you make those changes during the match. In the clip below Bond Shymansky, University of Iowa Head Coach, discusses situational coaching and how he uses simple phrases to ...

There are multiple volleyball offensive systems that you can choose to use. The question is which on is best for your team? What are the positives and negatives of each system? In the video clip below David Barkley, Head Volleyball Coach at Cheyenne Mountain High School, discusses  the strengths a weaknesses of  six different volleyball offensive ...

Do you keep your middle blocker at the net on a free ball or do you have them release and prepare to attack? The best coaches are the ones that are constantly evaluating choices like this one. They at least consider different ideas and sometimes change their philosophies. They are unafraid to try something different. Rod ...

What can you do to help your team win? Preparing them for serve receive is one way. By scouting your opponent, putting your players in the right position, and making them aware of tendencies, you can improve your chances of success. In the clip below Mike Krause, Parkland High School, PA, discusses his philosophy on serve ...

Serving strategy is one of the most impactful ways that a coach can influence winning or losing with a team in a match.  Can you as a coach maximize your team’s point scoring percentage by making the best decisions to get the most value from  each server? In the video clip below Shelton Collier, Wingate University Head ...

  Today’s post is provided by Coaches Choice and was taken from an eBook entitled Coaching Volleyball: Offensive Fundamentals and Techniques edited by Kinda S Lenberg. The entire eBook may be found at the Coaches Choice Volleyball Coaching Library.  By Brian Heffernan Every summer, thousands of junior players attend volleyball camps around the country. Camps provide great opportunities for ...

The following article is taken from COACHING VOLLEYBALL: OFFENSIVE FUNDAMENTALS AND TECHNIQUES  Edited by:  Kinda S. Lenberg  and may be found at the Coaches Choice Volleyball Coaching Library Short Zone Serving By Tom Pingel Short zone serving is an area that a lot of coaches shy away from, mostly because they feel it is too easy of a ...

There are multiple components to being a great defensive team. Positioning, footwork, receiving and passing are all critical to your defense. In addition, The coach must decide on what type of defense best suits his/her team and teach the proper positioning and skills, that are needed to that defensive system. No matter what system you employ, ...

The setter attack can add versatility a deception to your offense. Some coaches only want their setters to focus on making a great pass to their hitters. This is always the highest priority for any setter. If you are fortunate enough to have athletic setter, then the setter attack is something that you can add ...

The slide hit is an important offensive tool for a team’s offense. The slide hit is a high percentage attack. The blockers have difficulty determining the exact position of attack and when executing a slide hit the hitter has several options of attack. She may go down the line or crosscourt. When going cross-court she ...

To run a fast tempo offense your team must be able to set and hit a zero tempo ball. The zero-tempo ball is one in which the middle hitter has jumped before the setter has set the ball. The hitter is essentially hitting the zero-tempo ball just as it leaves the setter’s hands. Running a fast ...

The proper positioning of the libero is critical in defending your opponents attack. In the video clip below Volleyball Solutions provides a video of breakdown from a University of Illinois practice detailing defensive positioning. The focus of the clip is the positioning of the libero. This is an excellent clip to show to your players ...

When determining which offensive system to use, knowing your setter(s) is crucial and knowing how to set your lineup around your setter is just as essential to success. Here are three basic offensive systems that may be utilized: 4-2 – A front row setter option, ideal for beginners. 6-2 – A back row setter option, good for ...

As coaches we are not always fortunate enough to the same type of player each and every season. Often times we must adjust our system to the players that we have available to us. One adjustment, based on the type of player that you have, would be your defensive system. In the video clip below Nancy ...

As coaches we must be able to select defenses that match with our players strength, while at the same time matching to the strength of our opponents attack. Generally speaking we select a few defensive schemes a then in game planning decide which will be best a particular opponent. However, the most successful coaches are ...

The 6-2 offensive system can be difficult to teach, but that shouldn’t necessarily prevent you from using this system if it is right for your players vs your opponents. In the video below Nancy Dorsey, 2015 AVCA National High School Coach of the Year and seven-time state champion, uses her expertise as a high school coach ...

A skill that can take your setters from good to great is adding the ability to use a jump set on the court. Bryan Bunn, former North Carolina State head women’s volleyball coach, shows you a drill that focuses on perfecting the hands, footwork, body angle and other techniques that a good jump set requires. ...

Slide hitting is a high efficiency attack. The outside blocker must move along with the slide hitter and try to determine where the attack will come from. The hitter has several options at the point of attack. They can go down the line and they have a lot of space cross court. Going cross court ...

Dr. Cecile Reynaud is a well-known volleyball educator and a retired coach of the Florida State Lady Seminoles volleyball team. She believes there are some basic keys to a great team defense. Coach Reynaud’ CoachTube course is called 20 Keys to a Great Team Defense. The course has several lessons. There are two clip below. The ...

This clip is from Championship Productions . This series features former Louisville Head Coach Anne Kordes. Coach Kordes was also the 2010 and 2011 USA Select National Team Coach as well as the former President of AVCA. The video is a YouTube video, so you will need to be able to access that site. Press the play ...